Combination garment



May 7, 1963 N. L. SIMONOFF COMBINATION GARMENT Filed March 28, 1961INVENTOR. NATALIE 5/MOA/0FF wim/ 4? A TTORNE Y United States Patent3,088,116 COMBINATION GARMENT Natalie L. Simonoif, 256 W. Park Ave.,Atlantic Beach, N.Y.

Filed Mar. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 98,815 1 Claim. (Cl. 278) This inventionrelates to garments and particularly to union or combination garmentsfor inner and outer wear. Prior garments of this type have been loosefitting and usually present an unattractive appearance, and when theyare of the drop seat type they usually have open gaps between themargins of the drop panel and the margins of the drop seat opening,making the garments unattractive for outer wear, and providinginadequate protection to the body of the wearer. The edges of the dropseat are uncomfortable to sit on the dropping and raising of the seatpanel is inconvenient.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved and novelcombination or union type of garment, which can he Worn as anundergarment or as an outer wear garment, which will present anattractive appearance on and fit for the wearer, which when worn can bemade substantially free of open gaps, so that in cold weather itprovides comfortable and adequate protection to the wearer, which hasall of the advantages of a drop seat garment, with which the loweringand raising of the drop seat are simple and convenient operations, andwhich is relatively simple, practical and inexpensive in construction,comfortable to the wearer, and easily put on or taken oil by the wearer.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription of an example of the invention, and the novel features willbe particularly pointed out hereinafter and in connection with theappended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a union or combination garmentconstructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the same, with thesection taken approximately along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are side elevations of the waist portion of the garmentwith the flap on the jacket tucked in, as intended during wearing of thegarment, and with the flap tucked in but with the slide fastener onlypartially closed along a side of the drop seat panel.

In the illustrated example of the invention, the garment has a jacketportion and a trousers portion 11, these portions being united to oneanother approximately at the waist line to form a single garment unit.The jacket portion may have long or short sleeves, or be sleeveless, andit has a vertical opening or slit 12 down the front from the neck atleast to approximately the waist line, and preferably somewhat into thetrousers portion to make it easier for the wearer to get into or out ofthe garment. This vertical opening can be closed in any suitable manner,such as usual in garments, but preferably by a slide fastener 13providing a continuous closing of the opening when the slide of thefastener is at the top of the opening.

The rear of the trousers portion of the garment has a suitable drop seatopening 14 of approximately rectangular shape and extending from thewaist line nearly to, but terminating somewhat above the horizontallevel of the crotch of the trousers portion, and this opening may beprovided by cutting the fabric of the trousers portion along thevertical sides 15 and 16 for the desired width and length of seatopening. This provides a drop seat panel 17 secured along its lower edgeto the seat opening as shown by the dash line 18. Since the 3,088,1 l6Patented May .7, 1963 fabric is not cut along the lower horizontal edgeof the seat opening, the panel 17 will have a unitary fabric hinge alongline 18. While the panel could be entirely separate from the garment andstitched to the trousers portion along the line 18, it is simpler andless expensive to merely cut the fabric of the trousers portion along 7the vertical sides 15 and 16 to provide the seat opening and have thepanel 17 integrally hinged to the lower edge of the seat opening.

The side or vertical edges of the panel 17 are detachably connected tothe side edges 15 and 16 of the seat opening, continuously forsubstantially the full lengths of the side edges 15 and 16, by slidefasteners 19, leaving the upper or horizontal edge of the panel 17disconnected from the garment along the upper edge of the seat opening.A marginal edge area along the upper, horizontal edge of the panel 17carries elastic means progressing from side to side of the panel andwhich is stretched when attached to the panel, so that when the panel isin closed position, the elastic means is stretched or under tension andcauses the upper horizontal marginal edge portion of the panel to moveinto snug contact with the body of the wearer at about his or her waist.The elastic means is preferably a strip 20 of an elastic band (FIG. 3),enclosed in a pocket 21 that may be provided in the upper horizontaledge portion of the panel. The elastic strip 20 is normally a littleshorter than the length across the upper horizontal edge of the panel orthe length of pocket 21, and after it has been inserted into and alongthe pocket 21 it is stretched and in that condition its ends are securedto the pocket walls. It may, for example, be also tacked at spacedintervals along its length to the pocket walls, so that when the panelis free of the garment along the upper edge of the seat opening, theelastic strip will contract and cause the pocket Walls to gathertogether and thus apparently shorten the upper edge of the panel. Whenthe panel completely closes the seat opening, such as when the runnersof the slide fasteners 19 are moved upwardly to their full extent, theelastic strip 20, because of its being under tension, will hold theupper edge of the panel snugly against the waist of the wearer.

The rear panel of the jacket portion 10, between the sides 15 and 16, isprovided with a fabric flap 22 that depends below the waist of thegarment and well below the upper edge of the drop panel 17 and is of thesame width as the panel 17. When the drop seat panel 17 is fastened inclosed position, by moving the runners of the slide fasteners 19upwardly to the top edge of the panel 17, the flap 22 is Worn tucked inbeneath the panel 17, where it is confined against the back of thewearer by the elastically contracting upper edge of the panel 17.

It will be observed that the garment, when worn, fully protects thewearers body which it covers, yet by opening the slit 12 the garment iseasy to get into or out of. The drop seat can be easily opened, when itis desired, and the slide fasteners along the sides of the drop seatpanel are at the sides of the garment where they cannot he sat on whenthe wearer is sitting. This makes the garment very comfortable to thewearer. The garment may have an elastic strip similar to that shown atthe upper edge of the drop panel 17, incorporated under tension in apocket along the front of the lower edge of the jacket portion, betweenthe side slits 15 and 16, so as to gather the front of the garment in atthe front of the waist line as shown at 23. The elastic strip in thefront of the waist part of the garment, plus the elastic upper edge ofthe drop panel at the waist line, makes the garment conform snugly tothe waist portion of the wearer and present an attractive appearance. Itwill be noted from the drawings that the portion of the waistbanddefined by the pocketed elastic strip in the front of the garment isdivided into two sections by the slit 12, and each of which extend fromsuch slit to the ends of the elastic upper edge of the drop panel, sothat in each of the three sections of the waistband the elastic stripelastically gathers such section along the waistline independently ofthe other two sections. This type of garment may be used as anundergarment, in sleeping garment for children, or an outer garment suchas are used by mechanics to protect their regular garments, or in placeof the usual shirt or blouse and trousers. Such a combination garmentcan be easily laundered. In cold weather there are no open gaps betweenthe drop seat and the rest of the garment or along the slits 15 and 16,or along the front slit 12, which makes the garment warm andcomfortable. The flap 22 which tucks beneath the upper edge of the dropseat panel 17 prevents exposure of the wearer along his back at thewaist line. The runners of the slide fasteners 19 are at the sides ofthe garment where they are conveniently accessible for operation inlowering or raising the drop seat panel. There is a minimum of waste intextile or other fabrics from which the garment sections are cut, sothat the cost of making the garment is relatively low.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, shapes,sizes, materials, proportions and arrangements of parts, which have beenherein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of theinvention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principleand scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

'1 claim:

A one piece garment having an upper jacket portion and a lower trouserportion provided with a closed crotch united together at about the waistline, said garment having a front vertically disposed slit extendingdownwardly from the neck of said upper jacket portion, through thewaistline thereof, and into said lower trouser portion to a point spacedabove said closed crotch, means for detachably connecting together thefront sides of said upper and lower garment portions separated by saidslit, said lower trouser portion having a drop seat opening extendingdownwardly from approximately the waist line of the garment, a drop seatpanel completely closing said opening and having a lower edge hingedlyconnected to said lower portion above said crotch, side edges extendingupwardly from said lower hinged edge toward the waist line of thegarment, and an upper edge approximating the waist line of the garment,means along the side edges of said drop seat panel for securing the samein closed relation to the side edges of said opening, means along theupper edge of said drop seat panel for securing the same in closedrelation along the waistline of the garment, a rear flap depending fromsaid upper garment portion and underlying said drop seat panel, thewidth of said flap being substantially the same as the width of theupper edge of said drop seat panel, said rear fiap having free sideedges spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the width of saidopening, and having a free bottom edge substantially spaced below saidupper edge thereof so that said flap depends freely underneath said dropseat panel for a substantial distance below the waist line of thegarment and substantially covers the area of the opening throughout suchdistance, and waistband means encircling said garment about thewaistline thereof and comprising three separated sections, one of whichis located at the rear of the garment and is constituted of saidsecuring means along the upper edge of said drop seat panel, and theother two of which are located at the front of the garment and extendalong the waistline from the ends of said securing means to said frontslit, each of said three sections having means elastically gathering italong the waistline independently of the other two sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.19,380 Craig Nov. 27, 1934 1,102,299 Scriven July 7, 1914 1,146,209Sheffer July 13, 1915 1,411,119 Metcalf Mar. 28, 1922 1,529,629Godbehere Mar. 10, 1925 1,853,396 Atherton Apr. 12, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS309,373 Great Britain Apr. 11, 1929 206,163 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1939

